May 5, 2023

HILLIARD, OH, OH — The Carl Spackler Open practice round begins in 45 days with 84 participants at Cypress Landing Golf Course just south of downtown Washington, North Carolina. There are guys who have not been practicing much including Chris Milam who will be returning after five year absence.

Chris Milam, a 12-year player from North Carolina, is one of the higher profile golfers to be silent with a 22 stroke handicap. Milam, a.k.a. Milo, was asked for his thoughts on practice and how much value it really has in a major championship.

Reporter: "Could you clear the air about your practicing habits since we don't see you practicing?"

Milo: "I have decided to skip practice and that's that. I do play golf occasionally, but if somebody says I missed one practice of all the practices this year, then that's enough to get the media started. The Carl Spackler Open deserves a winner regardless of practice. It's simple as that."

Reporter: "The event refers to you as high profile, but you have been unable to crack the Top 40 in your past 6 tournaments. So no practice?"

Milo: "If I can't practice, I cannot practice. It is as simple as that. It ain't about that at all. It's easy to sum it up if you're just talking about practice. We're sitting here, and I'm supposed to be the key participant, and we're talking about practice. I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a tournament, not even a scramble, but we're talking about practice. Not the major championship that I will go out there and die for. We're talking about practice man. How silly is that?

Now I know that I'm supposed to lead by example, but I am a 12-year player with a comprehensive experience. I know it's important, I honestly do but we're talking about practice. We're talking about practice man. [laughter from the media crowd] We're talking about practice. [pause] We're talking about practice. We're not talking about the tournament. We're talking about practice. When you read the website, and you see my scores, you've got the idea of my skills, you've basically see me give everything I've got, but we're talking about practice right now. [more laughter]

Reporter: "But it's an issue that your fans continue to raise!?”

Milo: "Hey I hear you, it's funny to me to, hey it's strange to me too but we're talking about practice man, we're not even talking about the tournament, when it actually matters, we're talking about practice."

Reporter: "Did you lose the 2017 Carl Spackler Open in a playoff?"

Milo: "Yes. This is totally ridiculous. We are talkin about practice."

Reporter: "Chris, Is it possible that if you practiced, not you but you would make your foursome better?"

Milo: "How in the hell can I make my foursome better by practicing?" Reporter: "So they can learn some things from playing with you."

Milo: "There should be plenty of lower handicaps participating. So their tournament is going to deteriorate because I'm not practicing with the field of players? Is my game going to get worse? I'm asking you, is anybody's game going to get worse? So what about my golf game? Is my game going to get better or worse because other players are hurt by my absence, I mean, does that hurt me or them? I'm being honest, people are hurt, but does that hurt Spackler? Does that help Spackler if I go out there and play hard for 5 hours? Does that hurt me as a player? Does that hurt me if this person is hurt or that person is hurt? Does it hurt me?"

Reporter: "Yes. I think it does."

Milo: "OK. You win. I will try to get out there and practice. I am done with this meeting. I will see you guys on the range June 22."

The 2023 Carl Spackler Open is set for June 22-24 with 84 players.  Pairings and roommates are scheduled to be published in early June.